How La Presserie is innovating in the plant-based space (Q&A)
La Presserie is a Toronto-based food and beverage manufacturer that produces innovative plant-based cold-pressed juices, smoothies, salad dressings and cocktail mixers. In this Q&A, founder Adolph Zarovinsky – formerly president of Tiffany Gate Foods – shares the story behind La Presserie and what makes the company’s ever-expanding product lines unique.
What is the story behind the founding of La Presserie?
I retired from Tiffany Gate Foods but quickly realized I wanted to stay in the food business –it’s what I love. So, in 2018, I founded La Presserie. The reason for going into the plant-based space was partly personal, partly market oriented. On the personal side, my wife and I are trying to live a healthy lifestyle. We both come from Europe, where a lot of diets centre on fruits and vegetables and meat is eaten only occasionally. It’s not considered exotic or unusual – it’s just how you eat. In North America, there tends to be a perception that veganism and vegetarianism is a bit off-centre. So, with La Presserie, the idea was to make plant-based food and beverages more mainstream and develop great-tasting products to fill gaps in the marketplace.
Describe La Presserie’s product lineup and what makes the products unique.
Cold-pressed juices typically require some type of pasteurization or high-pressure processing to extend shelf life. But that defeats the purpose of cold-pressing because it results in a loss of nutrients, aromas and enzymes – all of the goodness you want in a cold-pressed juice. Our idea was to flash-freeze our juices right after pressing, in order to preserve the taste, aroma and nutritional values, while also extending shelf-life without the use of heat or high-pressure. In addition to nine flavours, we also have a line of cold-pressed juices for kids (with hidden veggies in each one), as well as a line of smoothies.
Our fresh salad dressings were developed as an alternative to traditional dressings, which tend to not be very nutritious. We have two lines: Our cold-pressed dressings are truly revolutionary in that they contain only about 10% oil and the rest is fruits and vegetables – and they’re raw, and un-pasteurized. Our creamy line takes familiar classics and transforms them into delicious plant-based dressings that do not contain any eggs or dairy.
Our ready-to-use cocktail mixers, which we launched last year, are made with fresh, raw, cold-pressed fruits and agave syrup. We found that many mixers don’t contain any real fruit, just natural flavour. So, we are filling that gap as well.
What is the opportunity for grocers that carry La Presserie products?
To start, there is a solid business reason. Plant-based foods and beverages are just under a $1-billion market in Canada. But when we work with our grocery retail partners, we say it’s important to stock foods and beverages that people want to buy – not because they’re vegan and they have to, but because these are nutritious, great-tasting products.
What’s next for La Presserie?
We are getting into the frozen meals space and our newest product is in the Asian cuisine world. We are launching this product at the SIAL show in May, so I can’t reveal too much. But it’s a plant-based product with an innovative cooking method that provides additional freshness. In addition, a large and growing part of our business is private label, which we develop for retail and foodservice companies at our state-of-the-art plant. Ultimately, we – and our customers – are convinced there’s a market for plant-based foods that are accessible and delicious, and we are hopefully earning our place under the sun.